Jain Journal 2008 01 No 03

Author(s): Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 30

134
JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XLII, NO.3 JANUARY. 2008
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also doing penance (tapas) for eight days. At the end of the paryūṣaṇa festival, every body begs for pardon (kṣamā-yācña) and asks for doning any misdeeds done during the previous year. It is a sort of atonement for any misbehaviour in a society. Everybody says to everybody the following verse --
khamemi savva-jīve savva-jīvā khamantu me! metti me savva-bhūesu veram majjham na kenņa vi // "I pardon all the animals and let all the animals pardon me. I have friendship with all animals and I have no enmity with anybody."
At the end of the paryuṣana parva this verse is uttered by every Jain and under the spell of this festival all the Jains come under one canopy. Just as desera of the Hindus, so also the paryuṣaṇa of the Jainas.
Finally, it can be said without any hesitation that tolerance in Jainism as a part of moral discipline is well-treated through the principles of pañca mahāvratas, triguptis and ahimsa. The path of nonviolence will restrain human beings from doing any harm to the society and, therefore, human beings will not behave like butchers where life of all sorts is annihilated. Mahāvīra emphasises that if this principle of non-violence is practised and followed then there will be no violence in the world and a heaventy bliss of tolerance will prevail all over the world.
X. Influence of Jain Moral values on Indian life:
Having described some aspects of moral values as enunciated by the Jains throughout the centuries almost from its very inception, it is now time to see how these moral values have influenced the lifestyle of the Indians all these years. It is, in fact, very difficult, almost impossible to distinguish the Jain moral values from the other systems. As the Jains have lived in India all through with the Hindus, there has been a reciprocity of actions between them. The thoughts and ideas of the Jains are thoroughly integrated with the life-style of the Hindus, and it is often difficult to distinguish one from the other. Which ones of the Jains are adopted by the Indians, and which one not, is not easy to ascertain. Many Hindu ideas are assimilated by the Jains and vice versa.